Thursday, September 12, 2013

Brammo challenges Formula E's SRT_01E to a race .. who would win?

Shane Turpin, Empulse RR, Laguna Seca, 2013 eRoadRacing

The gauntlet is thrown - let's see if Formula E will pick it up. Brammo, the electric motorcycle company whose electric race bike, the Empulse RR, is among the top tier of electric superbikes, posted this on Facebook this morning: Spark-Renault SRT_01E VS Empulse RR... Who would win in a race? (see the embedded post below)

And: An 800kg car with 200kW (270 bhp) or a 200kg bike with 130kW (170 rwhp)?

Formula E's SRT_01E

Unfortunately, Brammo doesn't post a spec sheet on the Empulse RR page - though, even if they did, they're constantly working with suppliers like Parker-Hannifin to improve things.What it means is that our ability to engage in the "my ___ is faster than your ____" game is limited because we can't compare specs.

The main thing we'll notice is that the SRT_01E has a more powerful drive train, but the Empulse RR is both lighter and as a motorcycle would be able to outmaneuver the car quite easily. Especially with a top rider on-board like Shane Turpin or Eric Bostrom.

By the way, an interesting factoid ... Of that 800kg weight, 200kg is the battery pack. That's the weight of the entire Empulse RR. The SRT_01E has a top speed of 225 km/hr or about 140 miles/hr. The 2012 Empulse RR did 170 miles/hr at Daytona last year. At Laguna Seca the 2013 Empulse RR was doing 140+ miles/hr in some sections of the track. Because Laguna Seca is a very twisty track, the speeds are limited, where Daytona is built for ultra high speed with long straights and banking.

In other words, the Empulse RR has more raw speed than the SRT_01E on a smaller lighter frame and smaller battery pack.